


reflected

by friedtoffee



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Character Death, ep 105 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:16:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25811938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friedtoffee/pseuds/friedtoffee
Summary: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EP 105: ALTERNATE ENDING BUT STILLWhat if Caleb's disintegrate spell got reflected in the fight against Vokodo
Kudos: 14





	reflected

The Mighty Nein and Vilya circled around the place where the banished Vokodo used to be. Jester glanced at her friends and nodded. Everyone readied their attacks as Jester began to drop concentration on her banishment spell. Suddenly Vokodo reappeared in the spot they had encircled. Vokodo let out a desperate shriek as he attempted to flee from whatever was chasing him in the Astral Sea. 

Fjord attacked first. Slashing twice into one of Vokodo’s body, dumping the divine energy of the Wildmother into the blows. A small chunk slid off exposing the raw magma interior. Vokodo let out another wail, not from the pain, but from the sheer terror of being in the Astral Sea moments before. Beau began to punch into Vokodo, ignoring the burning pain in her knuckles. 

Caleb broke open a small bag of dust and pushed his loadstone through it. A beam of dark green energy blasted towards Vokodo. Caleb expected it to go straight through the strange psychic field that was reflecting spells during the earlier fight. Caleb looked in the direction he sent the beam, when the beam redirected itself back at Caleb. He gasped as the beam went straight through his chest, and Caleb’s body began to disintegrate. 

No one saw the effect of Caleb’s spell, as Yasha slashed away at the creature. With her final swing, Vokodo let out a final screech before falling limp on the floor. Suddenly, everyone was pulled into a vision. The Astral Sea, a floating city, the city is alive full of minds, it’s hungry, seeking, hunting. Vokodo is running, fear, desperation. Information flooded into their brains. As the vision released, everyone looked at each other. Noticing the blood seeping from each other’s eyes and ears and into the water, they realized they all had the same vision.

Veth’s eyes filled with fear when she noticed someone was missing, “Where’s Caleb?” She screamed. He wasn’t standing there with them now. They all looked around panicked. And then everyone saw it. Where Caleb once stood was now a pile of dust. A couple spellbooks, a ring, his jar of nutriment beads, a wand. All of the magical items that Caleb carried laid next to the pile of dust. Veth swam forward and kneeled next to the pile. She picked up the spellbook and began to cry, “Caleb. . .” she whispered behind the tears. 

They all stared at the pile of Caleb in shock. Beau looked to the group, “Jess, Cad, do something, anything please!” she begged. 

Jester and Caduceus rushed over to what was once Caleb and dropped to the ground. Jester pulled her haversack off and pulled out her diamond. She placed it onto the pile and closed her eyes, “Traveler please help him!” 

The Traveler appeared next to Jester. He looked down at the pile of dust on the ground and looked back at Jester, “I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“You promised,” tears flowed out of Jester’s eyes, “You said that you would help us in case anything happened!” 

“I–I am so sorry Jester. This is out of my power. He’s gone,” the Traveler said and then disappeared. 

Jester stared at the diamond on top of Caleb for a moment. She sighed, slowly reached out to pick the diamond back up, and placed it back into her bag. She looked up at everyone, “there’s nothing we can do, he’s gone.” Jester leaned over to Veth and pulled her into a hug. Veth just kept staring at Caleb’s ashes while in Jester’s arms. 

Vilya took a step forward and addressed the group, “I am so sorry for your loss, but the water doesn’t seem to be cooling down and we have to get out of here before we all die down here as well.”

Caduceus nodded and pulled out a jar from his pack. He began to scoop Caleb’s ashes into the jar. Veth picked up the rest of Caleb’s belongings that did not get destroyed. She handed what she could not carry to Beau. She nodded, “let’s go then. we can’t all die down here.”

Everyone gathered together and began to make their way back through the tunnels. They swam for half an hour, avoiding the torchblooms. It was strange to no longer have Caleb telling them all the directions. Eventually, they reached the end of the tunnels and broke the surface. They rushed over to the shore of the cave to get out of the water that was slowly boiling them alive. They sat on the shore in silence for a while. Caduceus closed his eyes and began a prayer of healing for the group.

A couple flames still burned on the boats that Caleb had set on fire before the fight. Luckily they decided to keep a couple boats safe. Fjord looked at the boats and broke the silence, “we should get back on the boat. It’s probably safer.”

Everyone followed Fjord onto the boat and sat down in a circle on the deck. Caduceus pulls the jar back out and sets it down in the middle. Beau pulled out a bottle of wine and took a swig. She passed it to Veth, who took a couple of swigs. Veth passed it to Fjord, “to Caleb!”

“to Caleb!” everyone responded.

**Author's Note:**

> ep 105 was so intense to watch and i need to know who matt was going to have the spell hit. heres just one possibility. i dont take any responsibility for any emotional distress from reading this


End file.
